Spot the ATM Scammer!

[admin]

Without any prompting, we have heard the same story from three people in the past three weeks--they tried to withdraw money from a Bangkok Bank ATM, a message on the screen said "Out of order," they didn't get any money, but later found the money they requested had been deducted from their account. After reporting the incident to Bangkjok Bank, their money was cheerfully returned. All three people felt lucky they had closely checked their balance or they might not have realized the money was gone.

Here is Gigabyte's story: Last night after work, I wanted to withdraw money from the bank so as usual I went to the Bangkok Bank ATM in the Chartered Square Building lobby after my work. It was a substantial amount of money that I needed to pay for my rent, electricity, laundry, car maintenance and for a short weekend trip to see my g/f about 400 Km North of Bangkok (in Lomsak). So I put my card in, punched my PIN and asked for baht 25,000 (US$625). Then I waited while my transaction was being processed, but it took very long, longer than expected. I couldn't hear the bills being flipped or any sound from the ATM. Then my card came out and the message on the screen said: "Out of order. Please take back your card". So I took my card back and went to another branch, in the Jewellery Trade Center. I could get my money there and everything went fine. But when I looked at my receipt, I was shocked... It was way too low, I was supposed to have more. So I decided to go to the Bangkok Bank branch on Silom, where they have a passbook update machine. On the way there, I was trying to recall withdrawing a large amount of money in the week before, but I couldn't remember anything. So I updated my passbook and realized that I was deducted baht 25,000 for my first failed attempt at the Chartered Square Building! I didn't get the money but my account was deducted!

So the first thing that I did the next morning was to go to the Bangkok Bank branch at the Jewellery Trade Center, and seek help at the customer service counter. When I went there, I explained the whole story to the bank employee; he asked to have my passbook, checked my account on his computer, and updated my passbook. I was feeling good, thinking that the error was corrected already. But he gave me back my 'updated' passbook with the same amount as the night before, missing baht 25,000... I asked him to tell me what was happening, and he gave me a phone number to call; it was a number to reach Bangkok Bank customer service (remember, I WAS at the customer service counter...). So I asked him (very politely with a smile) to please help me, to call for me right now, because I was a bit nervous about the situation. He said that it was me who had to call, he refused to call. Then he told me that I could ask for another bank employee at the same bank, that she could help me. I went to see the other employee, explained my problem again, and the lady gave me another phone number to call to explain my problem in order to get my money back. No one wrote down any report or information about my account number or identity. I was totally unimpressed.

So when I arrived at the office I called the second number that I had, and once again I had to tell my whole story... Twice because she wanted to be sure that she got it right. I was finally told that this problem should be fixed soon and that my money would be put back in my account the next Thursday, 6 days later! She didn't give me any reference or incident number. I just hope that they won't give me more troubles... [He did get the money returned to him from the bank.]

[Johan]

I heard a similar story from a Thai friend about 1.5 years ago, it was also Bangkok Bank IIRC. I can't remember if the money was withdrawn from the account or not but the problem was solved after contacting the bank.

[bangyuk]

I had a bizarre twist on this when I lived in Bangkok in 1990. I withdrew some cash from a Bangkok Bank ATM and shoved it in my wallet. A few days later the bank rang me. "Did you count your money?" - no! "Oh, we think you took too much. The man in front of you was too slow and his money was left in the drawer." Oh well, bad luck, Bangkok Bank, you'd better give him some money if you believe him. "Well, actually we want you to give him his money back. We are going to give him your phone number and let you arrange this. It is between the two of you."

I am ashamed to admit that this was the one occasion when I lost my temper in Bangkok and told the nice lady from the Bangkok that this would not be a good idea . . . . .

[GWR]

http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=5909

http://www.phuketgazette.com/newsimages/bull8282007-5914-1.jpg
[Police reveal a fake card slot and scanner, one of two devices attached to a Patong ATM by criminals to record unsuspecting customers’ bank card and pin number details. Photo courtesy of Kathu Police.]

http://www.phuketgazette.com/newsimages/bull8282007-5914-4.jpg
[LEFT: The scanning devices included an extra keypad fitted over the original to record PIN numbers entered.
RIGHT: The modified ATM looks very similar to the original. Photos courtesy of Kathu Police.]

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
ATM card scanners found in Patong

PATONG: Police are warning credit card and bank card holders to exercise caution when using ATMs and other “swipe” machines in Patong after an ATM on Soi Bangla was found fitted with devices capable of recording card data and pin numbers.

Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark told the Gazette that Patong police received a call from an English tourist about 11 pm Friday after he had problems using his credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM on Soi Bangla.

Col Grissak said that after the tourist removed his cash from the machine, he found it difficult to remove his card because it was stuck in the insert hole.

“He then tried to force his card out and he was surprised when a fitting glued over the insert hole came loose,” Col Grissak said.

He explained that the ATM had two devices fitted to it. Glued over the insert hole was a scanning device to extract card data as the card was inserted into the ATM, and an extra keypad was fitted over the ATM’s original keypad so that PIN numbers could be recorded as they were entered by unsuspecting users.

“Both devices look like the real ones and they record information from cards used at those ATM machines,” Col Grissak explained.

Since the discovery that the Krung Sri Bank (Bank of Ayudhya) ATM had been tampered with, Kathu police officers have been ordered to check on every ATM in Patong, Col Grissak said, as he expects that the Soi Bangla ATM was not the only one in Patong fitted with a scanning device.

“We found another machine not far from the first one that also had scanning devices fitted to it,” he said.

“The information recorded is transferred to a computer and then used to make fake credit cards, which are used in many ways, such as buying things over the Internet,” Col Grissak said, adding that major banks have been alerted to the discovery.

Police have received only one complaint about dodgy ATMs, Col Grissak said. “If the information from their credit cards is copied, it can cause them a lot of harm, but so far we have yet to receive complaints from any other tourists about it,” he said.

Col Grissak, a former high-ranking Tourist Police officer in Bangkok, said, “In my experience, gangs try to steal credit card information in tourism areas, such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Samui, but this is the first time we have found this in Phuket.”

Although police in Phuket have yet to catch the culprits responsible for refitting the Patong ATMs, Col Grissak said that a credit card gang was arrested yesterday morning in Bangkok.

“We also caught a gang from Sri Lanka at the beginning of this year. They used fake credit cards to buy things. The same gang operated in Phuket, too,” he said.

[GWR]

See also previous post:

New scam has banks scrambling
Published on September 21, 2007

Commercial banks and the police, are battling a new ATM theft technique in which fake keypads record pin numbers and personal information.

The thieves then produce clone cards to empty bank accounts.

Thai Bankers' Association secretary-general Twatchai Yongkittikul said the fake keypads feel hard to the touch and that cardholders should immediately cancel their transaction if the keypad feels strange and notify the bank immediately.

He did not say exactly when this new technique was detected, but said thefts had occurred "occasionally".

He said the banks, "if proved at fault", would be responsible for the stolen money, adding that though financial.

In a TV interview yesterday, Twatchai said he believed it was a large-scale operation that involves computer experts and people with experience in plastic and rubber products, as the fake keypads looked very much like the real thing.

According to Twatchai, the technique also involved the use of false decoders, which record personal information of cardholders stored in the magnetic strip on ATM cards. The thieves then used two sets of information - pin numbers and cardholder's information - to produce cloned ATM cards to withdraw money.

Twatchai said he did not think bank officials were cooperating with the thieves.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/21/national/national_30049718.php